Union Home Minister Amit Shah flagged off Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president K Annamalai’s padayatra, ‘En Mann En Makkal’ (My Land, My People) from Rameswaram after a rally this evening (28 July).

The rally was addressed by senior leaders of the BJP and its alliance partners.

Leaders and representatives of parties such as the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), Tamil Maanila Congress, the Puthiya Tamilagam and the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) were present.

Addressing the rally, Annamalai asked BJP members to consider it as their own padayatra and undertake it with a strong ‘sankalpa’ to bring back Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a third term with a record breaking majority, banking on a historic peroformance from Tamil Nadu.

Further, he said that no other Prime Minister had done as much for Tamil Nadu and its culture as PM Modi. He recalled how PM Modi had quoted the Thirukkural in a number of speeches and encouraged its translation.

His speech was followed by the release of a book about what the Modi government had done for the state. He said that the party plans to distribute the book to crores of households across the state during the course of the padayatra.

Speaking after him, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the padayatra is not merely for political purposes. It would take Tamil culture to four corners of the country.

In an apparent reference to the newly named I.N.D.I.A grouping, he criticised Chief Minister MK Stalin and said that there is no use of changing names as people are still reminded of the 2G scam, Commonwealth scam, chopper scam and coal scam.

Regarding the initiatives taken by PM Modi for spreading Tamil culture, he referred to the Sengol in the new Parliament, the Kashi and Saurashtra Tamil Sangamams and the recent launch of the Tok Pisin translation of the Thirukkural during his visit to Papua New Guinea.

Continuing his criticism of the opposition alliance, he said that all of them were interested in Parivaarvaad or dynasty politics and corruption instead of developing the nation.

Referring to the continuation of Senthil Balaji as a minister in spite of his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), he said that Chief Minister Stalin should be ashamed of retaining him in the Cabinet.

Further, he said that Balaji has been retained as minister because he would otherwise spill the beans.

Referring to the DMK Files, he said, “If one tweet by Annamalai was able to shake the foundation of your government, you should be afraid of what this padayatra could do, when he is going to cover 10000 kilometres.”

He then listed out the number of beneficiaries of various central schemes such as the PM Awas Yojana, PM Kisan and the Jal Jeevan Mission.

Regarding the devolution grants and grant-in-aids given to the state, he said that it these were three times and four and a half times more than what the UPA government had given.

He concluded his speech by asking Chief Minister Stalin to present the 10-year record of the UPA regarding what it had done for the state and requested the people to ensure a record victory for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the state and bring PM Modi back to power for a third term.